A method for estimating a bit rate and the distortion of at least one compressed image using at least one wavelet transform operation delivering at least one sub-band b containing coefficients, said sub-band being subdivided into at least one packet of coefficients associated with a compression quality layer, said packet also including a packet header and being transmitted through a propagation channel, said method including estimating a distortion Dbc linked to a compression of the coefficients of said packet, estimating a distortion D′bc linked to a corruption or loss of said packet, estimating a compression bit rate Lb, estimating a sensitivity {tilde over (D)}bc of said packet according to Dbc and D′bc and the bit rate Lb, and estimating a distortion of said image linked to a decompression of said packet based on {tilde over (D)}bc.